Home-sharing websites, such as Airbnb and HomeAway, have been giving the holiday industry a run for its money of late, with many choosing to book through their easy to use online services rather than the more established holiday companies.

Marriott International have been piloting a home-sharing program which began in April. They ventured into the market on a six month trial, in collaboration with UK based home rental company Hostmaker.

Marriott already have 6,500 hotels and 110 million loyalty program members and are determined to grow even bigger by entering the home-sharing market.

Marriott have launched ‘Tribute Portfolio Homes’, which … Read more

A Woman from Birmingham, who conned more than £20,000 from vulnerable people, has been jailed for 9 years. Derrol Flynn posed as a police officer to gain the confidence of her victims before stealing their cash. She had already been jailed multiple times for similar offences, stretching back 20 years.

Derrol Flynn starting cheating vulnerable people in and around Birmingham out of thousands of pounds when she was in her 20’s. She’s now 45, but will spend the next 9 years behind bars. Despite being released last January on license, halfway through an 8 year sentence for a string of … Read more

Michael Brown, CEO of Wyndham Destinations, sat down with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, the network’s resident markets expert, to discuss the split up of Wyndham Worldwide to create Wyndham Destinations and Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, how this split will influence the timeshare market and, how it will benefit Wyndham shareholders.

 

Wyndham Destinations is now purely focused on their Timeshare Vacation Ownership product and investing in its future, by creating a strong brand and a greater market share for its investors. Michael Brown CEO explains: “We have had growth every single year, but what’s really interesting in terms of growth Read more

Timeshare, Cryptocurrency, Financial And Legal Scams Have Doubled In The Last Year !

 

More and more customers are falling victim to scams involving timeshare, cryptocurrency, binary options investments and bogus solicitors, according the the charity, Citizen’s Advice. Scammers posing as professionals from financial and legal services are on the rise and such cons now account for a fifth of all scams reported to Citizen’s Advice.

Citizen’s Advice have reported a 6% increase of these types of scams being reported to their advisory service this financial year and they have calculated that the median financial loss for these types of … Read more

A Terminally Ill woman and her husband have lost £53,000 in lifesavings to scammers who posed as Santander Bank staff.

 

Carol and John Williams, both in their 60’s, were planning to use their life savings to purchase a new property, after Carol Williams was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

The scammers called Mr Williams on his mobile phone. Mr Williams was not alarmed by this, at first, as the number appeared on his phone screen as Santander Bank.

“They told me £15,000 was being taken out of my account by a Stephen King in Dundee, they said they needed Read more

The financial watchdog, the FCA, wants to crack down on high-cost-credit, an issue which effects more than 3 million people in the UK. The Financial Conduct Authority has announced plans to cap fees in the rent-to-own market, where you can but furniture or appliances by way of weekly or monthly payments, at a high interest rate. They also want to crack down on doorstep lending, where the lender comes to your home and collects payments. It also wants stricter regulations on catalogue shopping, which also charge an extortionate amount of interest on the goods they sell. On overdrafts, the FCA … Read more

Hilton Grand Vacations invests $41 Million in Hilton Hotels, Los Cabos Beach and Golf Resort in Mexico.

Hilton Grand Vacations has long continued as a high profile vacation ownership brand. They are again increasing their presence in the market by purchasing 87 of the 375 hotel rooms within the resort.

The hotel is located between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose Del Cabo. The area has many popular attractions as well as one of the regions only swimmable beaches. The hotel features 6 food and beverage outlets, a 7,000 square foot spa and salon, and 88,000 square feet of indoor … Read more

Two Florida Businessman Have Been Permanently Banned From Selling Timeshare’s And Ordered To Surrender Their Assets.

The two businessmen, Jess Kinmont and John Wenz, ran and operated ‘Pro Timeshare Resales LLC’ from 2011 to 2016. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the US’s equivalent of Trading Standards, brought the case against the pair to court, in response to complaints made by consumers. The duo appeared in court back in December 2016, when a judge upheld a temporary restraining order against the defendants, halting them from operating the business. The court also ordered that all assets owned by the pair be frozen … Read more

‘Don’t Miss A Trick, Be Scam Aware!’

Citizens Advice, Trading Standards and partners across the consumer protection landscape are leading an anti-scam initiative throughout the month of June, for Scams Awareness Month.

The campaign is all about supporting partnerships nationally and locally to give consumers the skills and confidence to identify scams, learn how to protect themselves, their families and friends against these cruel crimes and predatory practices.

This huge cross agency initiative will include social media campaigns and community events, engaging members of the public and arming them with information to better protect themselves. It is incredibly important to … Read more